Chevron isn't relocating to Houston, though the city is ground zero for the U.S. oil and gas industry.

Oracle isn't high-tailing it to Austin, though the Texas state capital has become a national high-tech hub.

And Qualcomm isn't moving to Dallas, though it could be right at home in "Telecom Corridor," a northern suburb of Big D.

Nevertheless, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's four-day recruiting visit to California was far from fruitless. He sent a loud, clear message to CEOs here in the Golden State that, if they feel their companies are underappreciated by tax-and-regulate lawmakers in Sacramento, the Lone Star State is "open for business."

Gov. Perry was not so naïve as to think that California's 53 Fortune 500 companies (one more than Texas) would be ripe for the picking. That Chevron would leave San Ramon, Oracle would part ways with Redwood City, Qualcomm would kick San Diego to the curb.

"You're not going to see businesses leave lock, stock and barrel," Gov. Perry told me Wednesday. But he absolutely believes his visits to Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Orange County and Los Angeles will have an effect on California companies "making decisions on expansion."

Indeed, while such well-known corporations as Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Google, Facebook, Petco, Cisco Systems, eBay and Intel are based in California, they have chosen in recent years to expand their operations, not in the Golden State, but in Texas.

Of course, the quality of life in California, at the highest level, is unsurpassed by any other state.

It begins with the Golden State's Mediterranean climate, which is responsible for the year-round temperate weather much of the state's population enjoys.

There also are the many natural wonders with which California has been blessed, from its Pacific coastline, to its verdant hills and snow-capped mountains, to its parks and forests (which cover nearly half the state's surface area).

California has many other appealing attractions, from wine tasting in Napa and Sonoma, to shopping on Rodeo Drive and at South Coast Plaza, to golf at Pebble Beach and Riviera Country Club and, for the kids, a day at Disneyland or SeaWorld.

Indeed, if the location of corporations were based strictly on quality of life, few states could compete with California.

But companies are, first and foremost, profit-driven enterprises. If they have the flexibility to move some or all of their operations, they are going to choose states with the most hospitable business climates.

That's why Gov. Perry spent the past four days meeting with California corporate execs. That's why he aired radio spots last week inviting California businesses to "come check out Texas."

The governor says that Sacramento is hostile to business; that Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature think the Golden State can "over-tax, over-regulate and over-litigate" with impunity; that California lawmakers blindly refuse to accept that the state's homegrown businesses would want to be anywhere other than here.

Gov. Perry warned that, if states do not maintain a positive business climate, businesses will go where the jobs and economic activity they bring will be appreciated.

As it is, he noted, during the past five years, California lost some 640,000 jobs. Gov. Brown attributed those job losses to the Great Recession between 2007 and 2009. Yet, Gov. Perry's state actually managed to create some 300,000 new jobs over the same span. It all has to with the business climates of the respective states. Indeed, in CEO Magazine's annual listing of the best and worst states for business – based on its survey of some 650 business leaders – Texas ranked first in 2012, while California ranked dead last.

And Gov. Perry expects similar results this year. Not the least because of California's passage of Proposition 30 in November, along with talk in Sacramento of moving to split roll property taxes and exit fees for businesses leaving the Golden State.

Gov. Perry suggests that California is "right at the tipping point" with respect to the state's business community. Either Gov. Brown and the Legislature will take steps to improve its business climate – its high taxes, its onerous regulations, its costly litigation – or they can expect the opportunistic governors of other business-friendly states to come calling. I know that Gov. Brown is not nearly as hostile to the business community as all too many of his fellow Democrats in the state capital. In fact, as Oakland's two-term mayor, he embraced policies that were decidedly pro-business, particularly with respect to housing and commercial development.

California's business community would welcome that version of Jerry Brown. While he certainly wouldn't – and perhaps couldn't – give them everything they asked for, at least they'd have a governor they could do business with.

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